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Our Itinerary:
June 1st ... Fly to Paris from S.F.
June 2nd... Arrive at Paris' airport and shuttle to hotel
June 3rd... Meet trip leader and transfer to trip hotel. Bus
into the city for a tour and come back in the evening to meet fellow
travelers for a Welcome Briefing and a short tour around the near
village.
June 4th... After breakfast go to UNESCO World Heritage Site
of Chartres Cathedral. Tour it and we're on our own. This evening
we check into our hotel in St. Malo. Explore there on our own.
June 5th... Happy Birthday to Grove. We are in St. Malo with
a walking tour within the ancient walls. We will check out what the
corsairs were able to plunder in the name of the king.
We will explore more or go on optional tour to Dinan....a medieval
village.
June 6th... Leave St. Malo for Mont St. Michel. Enjoy a tour
of the 11th century Romanesque Abbey....Have lunch together there
and then travel to the fishing port of Cancale the "oyster capital
of the world. Have dinner (probably seafood) on our own.
June 7th... Breakfast back in St Malo then transfer to
Honfleur. Check out the Peace Memorial Museum in Caen. We meet up
with the main group after lunch and embark on our ship in the
mid-afternoon. We'll gather with shipmates to toast the new
friendships over a Welcome Drink and Captain's Welcome dinner. The
ship remains in port tonight.
June 8th... After breakfast we take a walking tour of
Honfleur...and later explore the port village on our own. For the
optional tour Michael and I want to see the Tapestry Museum of
nearby Bayeux, which show a 230 foot tapestry depicting the events
of 1066 Normandy invasion of England.
June 9th... Take in the Normandy beaches....Operation
Overlord.....See where the 7,000 boats hit the beaches at Normandy
coast. Visit the Battery at Longues Sur Mer, The American Military
Cemetery, and the cemetery of Colleville sur Mer where
9,386 American soldiers are buried.
Learn about D. Day then move on to Point du Hoc where Allied
forces scaled 328 foot cliffs to take over the German artillery.
That evening we have dinner on the ship. This is going to be a very
emotional day.
June 10th... Cruise to Caudebec going under the Honfleur's 90
foot tall Tancarville Bridge on the way. Enjoy cheese tasting as we
cruise.
There is a half day option trip to Fecamp....the beautiful cliffs
on the Normandy coast at Etretat. This is immortalized by paintings
by Courbet and Monet. Taste Benedictine liqueur made from 27
different herbs and spices. Get back to the ship in time for
dinner.
June 11th... After breakfast take a walking tour of Rouen,
the capital of Normandy. This is where Joan of Arc was imprisoned
and met her demise. in 1431. The cathedral that Monet painted so
many times catching the changes in light are there. We can also
join an optional tour of the Abbey St Wandrille in the quaint
village of Wandrille. This was founded in 649. Maybe we'll have
had our fill of churches and abbeys, but maybe not. Enjoy dinner on
board.
June 12th... As we cruise toward Les Andelys we have a
cooking demonstration. After lunch we'll try our luck at watercolor
painting. Perhaps Monet has inspired us. We'll have some French
lessons, which I expect I'll pronounce like Spanish. Onboard after
dinner there will be a presentation about the Impressionist period
as we dock in Vernon overnight.
June 13th... After breakfast disembark for an excursion into
the countryside that inspired Claude Oscar Monet. Visit the village
of Giverny (I'll have goose bumps here!), see where he lived, his
gardens and his grave. In the afternoon we are invited to the
residence of a local family for a Home-hosted Visit. I think we
will be served many French pastries that they are known for there.
Back at the ship we have a relaxing dinner.
June 14th... From Vernon we travel to Conflans as we sample
French delicacies during a gourmet tasting. Then we leave the ship
to explore Van Gogh Country (more goose bumps) along the three
rivers called the "Rivers of Light". We'll have a walking tour of
Auvers-sur-Oise where Van Gogh came to live after his release from
the asylum in Sain-Remy. Here is where he produced 80 paintings
...especially the
Wheat Field With Crows I love so much. We'll see his
home and hopefully the bedroom he painted and has been one I've used
in an Art Docent lesson. This area also inspired Corot, Pissarro
and a favorite...Cezanne! Dinner on board.
June 15th... Early this morning we sailed to Paris and have a
half-day tour of the city's highlights. We will be seeing the
Eiffel Tower from several different perspectives as we travel along
the famed Champs Elyees. In the afternoon we make our own
discoveries. We could have gone to Versailles this day, but we have
been there and wanted to explore elsewhere. We have our Farewell
Dinner this night with fellow travelers.
June 16th... We tour Montmarte for an optional tour then
have dinner one last night on the ship.
June 17th... We transfer to a nearby Paris hotel to meet
Katie. She will tour with us on the 18th, and 19th around Paris.
On the 20th we have the morning free then transfer to the airport to
fly at 2:40 to Milan. There we meet our exchange son, Carlo Cavagna,
and then we don't know where we will be. He insists that we stay at
their flat a week in Venice. Oh, did he have to twist our arm for
that. We two will be on our own as Katie will join her other
grandparents in France for some more French experiences for the
nine days we are in Italy.
June 18th... We meet back at the airport hotel and leave for
S.F.
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